Conventionally, in endoscopy, an image of the inside of the body cavity of, for example, a patient that is a subject is captured by a scope, necessary image processing is performed on an obtained video signal by a processor, and the image is displayed on, for example, a monitor. If a part suspected of being a lesion has been detected in the examination, a still image of the part is, for example, recorded or printed out while displaying the image on, for example, the monitor. A user such as a doctor who performed the endoscopic examination checks the recorded still image again after the examination.
A technology has been disclosed that records coordinate information on a target area along with its observation image, the target area being a specific area, in an endoscopic image, which is designated by a cursor (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-258030).
Further, another technology has also been disclosed that associates a position of an endoscope tip in the body of a subject with a still image of an endoscopic image at that position, and records them (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-223850).
In recent years, procedures in endoscopy have increasingly become complicated.